The Real Life of Hanagata Toru
by cheree
Summary: Hanagata: You think MY LIFE's not as hectic as those crazy people of Shohoku? Hah. Go read and find out.


The Real Life of Toru Hanagata

A Slam Dunk fanfiction by.. Me

o............................................o

I nearly screamed in relief as I manage to finish the history essay that is due tomorrow. Actually the assignment was given a week ago, but with the hellish basketball-practice schedule that my captain put me through, I haven't got time or energy to do it. Until tonight, that is.

I saved the document and run the automatic grammar check program. I'll print it later in the morning, while I'm doing some editing for my roommate's assignment. Which means cut MY ESSAY into half of its original length, made some grammatical and typing error, and put his name on it.

Yes, you heard that right. I'm doing his assignment.

I do this because I've been doing it for him for years, since we're still in junior high to be exact, and' I've vowed to do this until we graduate high school, which is only a year left.

Most importantly, I'm doing this because if I don't, he'll never make it through high school. Heck, if it wasn't for me, this guy would've never ever surpassed junior high.

You might wonder what's so special about this person that I willing to became his academic slave for years.

He's none other that the player aka. Captain aka. Coach of Shoyo basketball team, Mr. I'm-so-Cool-Like-That Fujima Kenji

Surprise, surprise. Welcome to the real world of Hanagata Toru. Here, and only here, you will find the honest, unexpected truth about F.K.

* * *

We met for the first time on our first year in Hokusei Junior High. It was the first basketball session for new members of the club. Well… no pun intended, but back then, he's the shortest boy (ever) to join the club. And the seniors didn't bother to spare him the knowledge. Even our coach plainly stated if he ever wanted to succeed in basketball, then he'd better took lots of calcium, vitamins, and other nutritious food, coz he didn't get any taller soon, he'll never had the chance to entered the team.

Later that day, when I was on my way home and passed the basketball court on the park, I saw him practicing alone. I watched him for a while, thinking 'This boy is good. He scored seven out of ten shots!' For someone that short… ahem, that size, that was impressive. Back then, I can only scored three out of ten. And I was a foot taller than he is.

Finishing his shot, he caught the ball, dribble it away, then suddenly turned around and shot.

Score. Three-point.

I must've made some noise then, because he suddenly looked at my direction. We look at each other and he seemed to recognize me. Then he looked away, retrieve the ball, and went back to practice.

I wasn't an overtly social person back then. Nor was I an I-don't-see-you-and-I-don't-care type. But I was touched by what I see in his eyes on that brief moment. Something akin to pain, and frustration. So… yeah, what the hell. I stepped forward and greet him.

/flashback/

"Nice shot."

The boy with the ball looked away from his dribbling to the newcomer. "Thanks," was his only answer. And he went back to his dribbling.

"The one before it was also good." He didn't look up this time, just shrugged. No answer either.

"So was the three before it, two out of three before that, and…"

The boy rolled his eyes and cut off, "Okay, I get the point." He straightened and shot. The ball sailed up, hit the board on the center, and dropped into the ring.

"Statistically, that's way better than me," The newcomer said. "I'm sure that's better than each and every other new members of the club." This received nothing but a shrug.

"And I even bet that despite their I'm-so-mighty-big mouth of the seniors, quite some of them aren't that good, and perhaps will never be."

The boy snorted and retrieved the ball. "They didn't seem to think so."

"Well, for one thing, they haven't seen you practicing. And with the way the 'trained' us, running around the gym, mop the floor, and all that, they won't in near future. Not to mention considering the delusional I'm-so-tall-so-I'm-mighty attitude."

This brought a smile out. "Hopefully you're not ended up as one of their kind later on."

"No way in hell. I look into a mirror often enough. I might be tall but I'm far from mighty. Dork even. That's why I'm standing here ooh-ing and aah-ing and drooling at your shooting ability."

The boy grined at this. Then, holding the ball on one hand, he asked, "one-on-one?"

"Gladly."

"By the way, I'm Fujima Kenji."

"Hanagata Toru."

/end flashback/

TBC


End file.
